Whatever Happened to Steve?

For 20 years, we haven't heard any new music from Steve
Taylor in a decade, but the guy has been plenty busy--running a studio,
writing, producing, and now working on a feature film.

Russ Breimeier

In 1983, the fledgling Contemporary Christian Music scene was
dominated largely by inspirational pop and behind-the-times rock bands. Amy
Grant was still a rising star and virtually no one had heard of Michael W.
Smith. Suddenly, a young twenty-something emerged with his debut EP, I
Want to Be a Clone, armed with a relevant new wave rock sound and
lyrical wit that challenged Christians to consider their faith and
actions.

Steve Taylor (left) gives
direction to actors in the new
movie, The Second Chance

That artist was Steve Taylor, who went on to become one of
the most important Christian artists in the next two decades--half that time
in a solo career, including an all-too-brief stint with the mainstream band
Chagall Guevara. Since then, Taylor has made an impact as a producer, record
label executive, and music video director. But it's been ten years since his
last album, and his Squint record label--once home for Sixpence None the
Richer, Burlap to Cashmere, and Chevelle--folded. We wanted to know what he's
been up to, so we caught up with Taylor in Nashville, where we looked back on
his contributions to Christian music and ahead to his first feature film,
starring another Christian music legend.

What Christian music trends have impressed you most in the last 20
years?

Steve Taylor I read an article about a year ago that
interviewed some A&R people at major [secular] labels. They were talking
about how they were seeking out Christian rock bands to sign because they
tended to be the better bands. Apparently it's due to the circuit
we've developed through churches, coffeehouses, and things like that, where
rock bands have grown up in a performance environment and are better for
it.

The idea that major labels are specifically seeking out Christian bands
because of superior talent is really a mindbender, though it kind of makes
sense because it is such a fertile ground for breeding talent. With
under-funded public education and artist programs, I suppose it's one of the
few common outlets for people to gain consistent musical experience. So it
really impresses me that Christian music continues to expand, and that
there's less of a stigma attached to it.

What do you consider your best work in your years as a solo
artist?

Taylor I feel like I was a pretty slow learner. As I've
dabbled in different aspects of the entertainment business, hopefully I
didn't jump into something where I was completely incompetent, but I never
felt that I jumped into something thinking I'd ever make a masterpiece
either.

It's hard for me to listen to I Want to Be a Clone and
Meltdown--there are songs in there that I think are fun and
good, but others where I wonder today what I was thinking. I think the albums
got better with time. Probably the Chagall Guevara album and
Squint are the two pinnacles for me that I can still listen to
today without squirming.

Most remember your solo work for your honest, witty, and satirical
writing. How naturally did that come to you?

Taylor (Smiling) Yeah, the satire probably came a little
too naturally for me. I think there was an aspect of that which probably
garnered attention because it was Christian music--when you're working in a
small enough pool, it's easier to make a big splash.

That's part of the reason for starting Chagall Guevara or taking a chance
signing a band like Sixpence None the Richer [at Squint]. You just want to
find out if what you're doing is competitive on a broader level. That's part
of the reason I got into production--to learn more and more about making
records through experience.

So you grew as a producer at the same time. When did you start
favoring your production career?

Taylor I probably learned most about production when I
worked with the rest of the band and [producer Matt Wallace] on the Chagall
Guevara record. And eventually, I found it difficult as both a Christian and
an artist to continually do stuff that's centered on your persona. It becomes
hard to reconcile it with your ego. I knew a teacher who encouraged his
students to find a childlike vulnerability within them, and he said, "Don't
think you don't have it, because if you were a totally well-rounded mature
individual, you wouldn't need to get up on stage in the first place." That's
very true.

As you go on, it becomes hard to balance all that self-promotion with
being a follower of Jesus. I appreciate those who are able to do it well, but
it's just something that can wear you down.

Is that one of the reasons you've drifted away from a solo
career?

Taylor Well, it's probably part of it. Certainly
producing and looking out for a band's best interests are good too. They take
you out of your own headspace as you work for the good of another. Even
starting a record label was primarily to see a Sixpence album released by
someone who cared. As [Squint Entertainment] quickly grew and flourished over
those years, it was more and more about investing my life in the lives of
other artists and my staff.

Part of it was just out of boredom too. If you keep following the same
routine of writing, recording, and touring over and over, it gets
tedious.

Your fans are wondering: Will you ever make music
again?

Taylor I don't know! The other guys in Chagall Guevara
came across these old live tapes of a concert we did in town. We transferred
them to preserve them, and my friend [engineer Russ Long] did a mix. It
sounded really good, reminding all of us of enjoyable times.

But on the other hand, when I decided to pursue filmmaking, it's really
not a good career for dilettantes. I still enjoy making music, and plan on
making music in the future sometime. But I'm also mindful of the people that
have invested in this movie and hopefully other ones--I don't want them to
think this is just a little hobby I've got.

So someday, when the time is right...

You're also still active with Newsboys--producing and
writing--even now when they've steered away from the witty songs in favor of
a worshipful focus. I was surprised you were so involved in
that.

Taylor Well, a chunk of it. That was an easy shift for
Newsboys, but difficult for me. Adoration ... I haven't talked about this
much, but I actually tried to bail out of it. I really enjoy Peter Furler a
lot and working with him, but we'd been working on it for a long time, and
things were going really slow. We barely had ten songs--mostly live cuts from
the Thrive album.

I grew up singing hymns at my church--more traditional instead of the
modern worship thing. I just didn't understand it, to my discredit. And my
home churches have done more of that stuff over the years, but it always felt
like warmed over Kenny Loggins or James Taylor to me. Again, to my discredit,
it just seemed like really boring music that I wouldn't mind missing out on.
It was as much a spiritual malaise as anything.

So what kept you on the newsboys project then?

Taylor It was partly out of regard for Peter that I felt
we needed to finish it. I had a lot of other stuff going on, and I was
exhausted from that. But we stayed on it, did three more songs and some
covers. The one I really enjoyed was "In Christ Alone," because it feels like
more of an old school hymn.

Was Devotion a better experience since it had more
originality to it--less covers and more new songs?

Taylor Yeah, I think it's a better record. For that
album, I was more concerned about the obvious U2 influence, though as Peter
rightfully pointed out, that's like being influenced by The Beatles these
days.

The real challenge was writing real worship lyrics, and I think I have a
better handle on it now--understanding what needs to go into it without
sounding too clichéd. It's just very hard for me to write lyrics for
something where craft sort of takes a backseat. You can't write worship
lyrics based on craft. It's a much more mystical process, and there are songs
on both Adoration and Devotion that I think touch
on something beyond what either Peter or myself are able to write.

Moving on to your record label, Squint Entertainment, do you have
any regrets? Anything you would you have done differently?

Taylor (Jokingly) I'd have probably quit earlier.

No, I'm not sorry I did it. It was a good thing to do at the time. I've
gone into great detail at a Cornerstone press conference. The first four
years were great, and done with an agreement and a handshake through Roland
Lundy, the head of Word Records at the time. It was as good as it could have
been, but it never occurred to me that he wouldn't always be there. When he
was forced out [when Gaylord Entertainment bought Word in 2000], things
changed immediately, and as I've said before, "The Pharaoh who knew not
Joseph" came in. So the last year was not enjoyable.

Probably my biggest regret is that L.A. Symphony got messed over in the
nonsense that ensued. Ironic, because the reason I wanted to release their
album was put out a great hip-hop album that didn't get caught in corporate
machinery, but sadly that's exactly what happened.

Taylor (left) on the set
with Michael W. Smith
(in the maroon apron)

Now you're focused on making movies. What's your current
project?

Taylor The Second Chance. It's probably best described as
a "black and white buddy movie"--a white and a black get together and don't
like each other, but by the end of the movie they do. It's centered on two
churches in the Nashville area--one predominantly white in the suburbs, the
other predominantly black in the inner city. The associate pastor from the
big suburban church, played by Michael W. Smith, gets "sent down" to the
inner city church to rediscover what it's all about, and hijinks ensue.

How did you choose Smith for the role?

Taylor It was one of the film's writers, my longtime
friend Ben Pearson, who thought Smith should try for the lead. We got with
him early on, and gave him what amounted to a screen test to see if he could
act. When we decided he could pull it off, it's fair to say we wrote the part
with him in mind to play it.

And the other lead is played by?

Taylor Jeff Obafemi Carr, who's a pretty well known actor
in town. We were originally hoping for a B+ actor like Don Cheadle or Jeffrey
Wright, but both of them were booked. Jeff auditioned and read through a
table reading of the script cold, and I'm not exaggerating, every line was
exactly how I heard it when we were writing it. I talked to him afterwards,
and honestly told him that I'd like to use him as a backup if we couldn't get
a better-known star for the film. He was very gracious, and as it turned out,
he seemed the best actor for the job.

You're planning to release this in theaters to the
mainstream?

Taylor Right. One of the reasons we've avoided the tag
"Christian film" is because it's the kiss of death--it's not an apocalyptic
thriller or a conversion story. It's a redemption story, set in the world of
these two churches, and we wanted to tell an authentic story deep in those
settings.

You ever see Alec Baldwin play Jimmy Swaggart in Great Balls of
Fire? It was so awful--a total caricature and an embarrassment. I'm
sure he would agree, because he's an awesome actor. It was a great example of
why Hollywood doesn't seem to understand the Christian culture. Then Robert
Duvall came around, saying for years that nobody ever gets it right, that he
was going to do it right. He made The Apostle, and he nailed the
Southern Pentecostal scene, using local people and a small budget to do a
great job. I wouldn't want to be directly compared with that movie, but that
was the gold standard. Our aspirations were to try and approach that kind of
realism and authenticity.